(one) could be forgiven for (doing something)

It is completely understandable that one would do, think, or believe something, even if it is incorrect. Anyone visiting this country could be forgiven for thinking that they've somehow gone backwards in time. You could be forgiven for wondering how a multinational company has failed to pay its taxes for the last five years. A: "Wait, Ron and Elise are dating? I thought he was her grandfather!" B: "Well, you could be forgiven for that—Ron is 30 years older than her and has had white hair as long as I've known him."

(one) might be forgiven for (doing something)

It is completely understandable that one would do, think, or believe something, even if it is incorrect. Anyone visiting this country might be forgiven for thinking that they've somehow gone backwards in time. You might be forgiven for wondering how a multinational company has failed to pay its taxes for the last five years. A: "Wait, Ron and Elise are dating? I thought he was her grandfather!" B: "Well, you might be forgiven for that—Ron is 30 years older than her and has had white hair as long as I've known him."

(one) will be forgiven for (doing something)

It is completely understandable that one would do, think, or believe something, even if it is incorrect. Anyone visiting this country will be forgiven for thinking that they've somehow gone backwards in time. You'll be forgiven for wondering how a multinational company has failed to pay its taxes for the last five years. A: "Wait, Ron and Elise are dating? I thought he was her grandfather!" B: "Well, you'll be forgiven for that—Ron is 30 years older than her and has had white hair as long as I've known him."

(one) would be forgiven for (doing something)

It is completely understandable that one would do, think, or believe something, even if it is incorrect. Anyone visiting this country would be forgiven for thinking that they've somehow gone backwards in time. You would be forgiven for wondering how a multinational company has failed to pay its taxes for the last five years. A: "Wait, Ron and Elise are dating? I thought he was her grandfather!" B: "Well, you would be forgiven for that—Ron is 30 years older than her and has had white hair as long as I've known him."

forgive (someone) for (something)

To absolve or pardon someone for a misdeed or slight. I don't think she'll ever be able to forgive Jack for cheating on her. Please forgive me, I have the worst memory—what's your name again? You stole my money and then lied to my face about it! How am I supposed to forgive you for that?

forgive and forget

To forgive someone and (attempt to) forget that the wrong they committed ever happened. I really do want to move on, but I just can't forgive and forget that you tried to steal my boyfriend! I know you're supposed to forgive and forget, but I'm still mad at Vince—I can't help it. You stole my money and lied to my face about it! And I'm just supposed to forgive and forget? I don't think so!

See also: and, forget, forgive

God forgive me

A phrase commonly said in conjunction with a rude or otherwise unkind or inappropriate statement. God forgive me, but Lois is just so exhausting to deal with. He's a nice enough guy, he's just not attractive, like, at all. I know, God forgive me! God forgive me, but I just do not have the patience to help my mother with her computer right now.

to err is human (to forgive is divine)

proverb Being fallible and making mistakes is inherent to being a human, and forgiving such mistakes is a transcendent act. I know you're mad at your brother because he lied, but to err is human, you know. To forgive is divine.

Forgive and forget.

Prov. You should not only forgive people for hurting you, you should also forget that they ever hurt you. When my sister lost my favorite book, I was angry at her for weeks, but my mother finally convinced me to forgive and forget. Jane: Are you going to invite Sam to your party? Sue: No way. Last year he laughed at my new skirt. Jane: Come on, Sue, forgive and forget.

See also: and, forget, forgive

forgive someone for something

to pardon someone for something. Please forgive me for being late. He never forgave himself for harming her.

forgive and forget

Both pardon and hold no resentment concerning a past event. For example, After Meg and Mary decided to forgive and forget their differences, they became good friends . This phrase dates from the 1300s and was a proverb by the mid-1500s. For a synonym, see let bygones be bygones.

See also: and, forget, forgive

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

to err is human, to forgive divine

it is human nature to make mistakes yourself while finding it hard to forgive others. proverb

forˌgive and forˈget

decide to forget an argument, an insult, etc: Come on, it’s time to forgive and forget. ♢ Many of his victims find it impossible to forgive and forget.

See also: and, forget, forgive

he, she, etc. could/might be forgiven for doing something

used to say that it is easy to understand why somebody does or thinks something, although they are wrong: Looking at the crowds out shopping, you could be forgiven for thinking that everyone has plenty of money to spend.

See also: could, for, forgive, might, something

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

forgive and forget

Both pardon and dismiss someone’s mistake, rudeness, or other transgression. This expression has been an English proverb since at least the thirteenth century. William Langland in Piers Ploughman held it up as a form of Christian charity to be practiced by all: “So will Cryst of his curteisye, and men crye hym mercy, bothe forgive and forgeter.” It appears in John Heywood’s 1546 collection of proverbs and was used by Shakespeare in at least four of his plays, including King Lear (4.7): “Pray you now, forget and forgive; I am old and foolish.” It remains current to the present day.

See also: and, forget, forgive

See also:

References in periodicals archive

Some argue that a forgiver must cease to resent the offender (Garrard and McNaughton, "In Defence of Unconditional Forgiveness"), others that one must come to view the offender as better than their offense warrants (Allais, "Wiping the Slate Clean"), and still others that one need only overcome excessive blame (Butler, The Works of Bishop Butler; Garcia, "Bishop Butler on Forgiveness and Resentment").

OPPRESSION, FORGIVENESS, AND CEASING TO BLAME

The adolescent as forgiver. Journal of Adolescence.

Manifestation of Forgiveness, Subjective Well Being and Quality of Life

aps once he realises that, n't be asking for forgiver what he has done, but be asking for forgiveness hat he said, and all the he hurt along the way.

Cardinal's sin isn't what he did, it's what he said

Even though I think everything can be forgiven, that doesn't mean that the relationship between the forgiver and the forgiven will go back to the way it was.

All about forgiveness

"Those implicated with State Security need to turn their prayers to God, for he is our supreme judge and forgiver," commented Nikolay.

Untainted Bulgarian Bishop: Church Will Come Out Stronger

The priest's godly face hidden behind a grid as she's enclosed in the claustrophobic confessional--the sliding door opens with a bang as it hits the edge of the frame, the wooden rectangle that separates them from one another--the forgiver and the penitent.

Water

As an act, forgiveness raises the forgiver above the forgiven; it empowers the one even as it disempowers the other.

The essence of forgiveness

Konstan argues that the concept of forgiveness--understood as a bilateral process involving confession, repentance, and a change of heart on the part of the offender and a change on the part of the forgiver whereby she forgoes vengeance "on the basis precisely of the change in the offender" (21)--is a relatively new idea.

Before Forgiveness: The Origins of a Moral Idea

"Merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, and great in loving-kindness and truth; preserver of kindness for thousands of generations; Forgiver of iniquity, willful sin and mistakes and who cleanses ..." (Exodus 34:5-7, Numbers 14:17-18, etc).

"The silent handmaiden": poison & poeisis in the Women of Trachis

And all this was done by the mildest hearted, and most blue-eyed gentleman in the world, who, according to the patriarchal fashion of those days, was a gentle, white-haired worshiper of the household gods; the gentlest husband, and the gentlest father; the kindest of masters to his slaves; of the most wonderful unruffledness of temper; a serene smoker of his after-dinner pipe; a forgiver of many injuries; a sweet-hearted, charitable Christian; in fine, a pure, cheerful, childlike, blue-eyed, divine old man; in whose meek, majestic soul, the lion and the lamb embraced--fit image of his God.

Herman Melville's Pierre; or, the ambiguities and Jane Austen's Mansfield park: the imperial violence of the novel of manners

Because he became a teacher, a healer, a forgiver, who is known even more for his death on a cross than for his birth, his birth tells us God coming in weakness did not stop when he got older.

Mersey church leaders proclaim their messages for Christmas

The question now remains: do you want to be a serial forgiver? He's always with his dad AM I right to feel jealous of my boyfriend's father?

Will baby threaten our marriage? YOUR QUESTIONS

Forgiveness cannot occur if the forgiver does not know what it is and how to do it.

An analysis of a sample of the general population's understanding of forgiveness: implications for mental health counselors

For example, Jean Amery stakes out his position as a militant Holocaust survivor and disturber of the peace by contrasting himself with Levi whom he erroneously labeled "a forgiver." Indeed, Levi has been often caricatured as an unambiguously saintly or heroic author when the reality is far more complex.

Robert S. C. Gordon, ed.: The Cambridge Companion to Primo Levi